A neighborhood grandmother in her seventies asked me the other day if I use Twitter. We’re not talking about a novice, here: she has used email for the last 15 years and Facebook for the last two to connect with family and has now decided it’s time to check out Twitter.
As a first step, she had already chosen her favorite URL shortener, but she asked me if I had any tips for her before signing up for a personal account. So I checked my notes and ideas and decided to share my thoughts with you.
Article source – Are you building your Twitter reputation?
A German version of this post is also available – Twitter-Knigge: 20 Tipps für ein besseres Reputationsmanagement
I am sure I have left out one or two tips or important ‘no-no’s, so I am counting on you to graciously add them in the comments section below.
Playing it safe while keeping your followers happy – your way to Twitter success
1. Choose a Twitter name that is less than 10 characters (remember you have only 140 characters per tweet) and useful to you.
2. Try to keep your tweets short. Less than 120 characters makes it easy for others to re-tweet (RT @ComMetrics – see tip 17 below) your interesting tweet without having to shorten it first.
3. Do not tell me you have gotten up. Unless you are a celebrity, such tweets are just noise and not of interest to your followers (see also Who wins?)
4. Do not tell me you are offline. You do not email people to tell them you are shutting down for the day, so why tell people via Twitter (see also Twitter users: Want more attention?)?
5. Learn how RT (re-tweets) and messages (formerly called direct messages or DMs) work.
5. Automatic re-tweets are not a good idea. First click the link to ensure it works, then check if it leads to the original source content (e.g., a post about a study – why not link to the original white paper instead?).
7. Try to avoid posting several tweets at once. Instead, spread them out over the day.
8. Be original and consistent. If your favorite hobby is cooking, tweet about that. If you work and tweet as a foreign exchange dealer, post only business content. Always try to be relevant and NEVER be irrelevant – not always easy (see 4 tips for crisis communication with social media marketing, Twitter in a crisis: 6 tips for a faster rescue).
9. Proofread before you tweet. Once it’s gone, you cannot take it back. Even if you delete it right away, some of your followers will already have read and archived it.
10. Do not rant or badmouth. This can really get you into trouble and will not win you friends.
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11. Remember to give credit where credit is due. After all, a thank you goes a long way.
12. NEVER plagiarize.
13. Refrain from ignoring tweets or direct messages. If people message you, have the courtesy to respond – politely.
14. Mix it up. Provide interesting links to news and white papers, ask questions and mention your blog posts. Whatever you do, make it relevant for your followers.
15. Tout your own horn. If it is of interest to your followers, re-tweet messages that mention your blog post.
16. Do not misuse hashtags. These are used for tracking specific topics, such as #measure and #socialmedia, so ensure that the hashtags you use are relevant to your tweet.
17. Monitor your Twitter account. Check who re-tweets what and mentions you or your brand such as @ComMetrics. Get a feel for what kind of tweet works with your followers.
Use a URL shortener, ensuring that at least 10 percent of your followers click your links (we often get over 20 percent: Why your Twitter users care what you tweet.
18. Build your reputation with Twitter. Measuring your Twitter reputation is impossible, no matter what tools like Twitterank, Twitter Grader, Twitterholic, Twinfluence, Twitalyzer, and Klout claim, and navel-gazing metrics are useless. Instead, ensure important people such as friends, clients, or industry experts trust your tweets (quality information).
19. Use only one language for your account. Tweeting in several languages makes it impossible for all of your followers to understand everything you post. Create different accounts if tweeting in more than one language is absolutely necessary.
20. Tweet unique content. If you have more than one account, ensure that you do not just duplicate the same material (Ubiquitous sharing: Real insight?).
21. The audience is not on Twitter: 7 to 9 percent of the population use Twitter (e.g., Canada, UK, Germany, Switzerland). However, Twitter users are the ‘influencers’ and the news is on Twitter (see WGathering, filtering and distributing news – social media).
22. Online-Reputation is getting ever more important in today’s job market. Don’t forget, all tweets are being archived.
Watch and share the Twitter impact video on Facebook or view it right here:
More resources about more effective Twitter use:
- Tips and Tricks about micro-blogging, Twitter tools and more
- Searching on Google for tricks and tips – Twitter, Identi.ca, Naijapulse
- Why are we such angry birds on Twitter
- HP Labs study – How people use micro-blogging differently: China, India versus USA
- Tool: The Twit Cleaner: Oust the ‘bots and bores from your follower list
- Tool: Find out where your Twitter followers live with Twocation (optimize your tweet-timing)
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